A couple of nights ago, I was going home. As some of you are aware of, I live in a poor, high crime area. There was this beatiful almost new Montague Swiss folding bike leaning up against the wall of our local liquor store-Unlocked. . Here is the bike resembling the one spotted featured on this site for sale:http://www.electriccyclery.com/catalog/montague-swiss-bike-p-205.html The person who walked out of the store was someone who seemed not to care if the bike was taken or not. He was a typical man-middle age with graying hair, big butt-who lives in areas like this one. I was curious if this man was either a 1. cop planting temptation to steal or more likely 2. someone who bought a bike that is worth almost 2,000 dollors for real cheap (probably 50 dollars) and does not give a s--t about who sees the bike since stolen items have a low priority around here as far as the police are concerned. You see around here, if this man had 2000 dollars, he would have bought a car!

Seriously, for all you know that bike was that guy's pride and joy. But, it's a weird looking bike. So he might have been counting on the fact that the only person in that zip code who might recognize its value was the folder fanatic, and she's known to covet only 16 and 20 inch wheeled bikes.

The bike was probably "borrowed" from another person in another neighborhood who failed to lock it up. I too live in a poor and crime ridden area, and lots of bikes "change hands." You can easily recognize these suspicious vehicles because they are generally resprayed horribly to make them hard to identify. Unfortunately, the young theives in my area prefer BMX style bikes, and folders tend to look alot like them with their little wheels. I was reminded of this fact today when I was taking my new Birdy II (Thanks Black Dog) for a test ride, and three teenagers on BMX bikes rode up to me and agressively suggested that I trade my Anthracite beauty for one of their crummy Mongooses painted entirely in the same color including the tires! Needless to say, I sped off quickly, but it was odd considering that I've never had this happen before while peddling my ten speed big wheeler over the last 18 years. By the way, when I got home I brought the Birdy in my house instead of the shed, and even put a cable lock on it. No way this baby is ever gonna be left unattended!

You should carry a sword Holday44. Fit a nice Naval Cutlass on the crossbar and next time you're offered a trade of this kind, snatch it up, wave it around a bit and shout, 'What will you give me for this - Punk?'

I suggest a cutlass, because they are short and easy to wave around - long swords take a lot of swinging.

Where were you this morning, (Aussie time), when that idiot in the 4wd/SUV cut me off and turned around the corner nearly taking my front wheel out?? I could have used you for a bit of "butchering" then.
It's not like I was hard to see...bright sunny Summer's morn, me on my bright red Specialized Allez Pro decked out in bright red lycra...

Where were you this morning, (Aussie time), when that idiot in the 4wd/SUV cut me off and turned around the corner nearly taking my front wheel out?? I could have used you for a bit of "butchering" then.
It's not like I was hard to see...bright sunny Summer's morn, me on my bright red Specialized Allez Pro decked out in bright red lycra...

If they don't see you on a Fat Boy, they won't see you on a bike sadly. I suggest wearing a large cardboard box resembling a car.

A couple of nights ago, I was going home. As some of you are aware of, I live in a poor, high crime area. There was this beatiful almost new Montague Swiss folding bike leaning up against the wall of our local liquor store-Unlocked. . Here is the bike resembling the one spotted featured on this site for sale:http://www.electriccyclery.com/catalog/montague-swiss-bike-p-205.html The person who walked out of the store was someone who seemed not to care if the bike was taken or not. He was a typical man-middle age with graying hair, big butt-who lives in areas like this one. I was curious if this man was either a 1. cop planting temptation to steal or more likely 2. someone who bought a bike that is worth almost 2,000 dollors for real cheap (probably 50 dollars) and does not give a s--t about who sees the bike since stolen items have a low priority around here as far as the police are concerned. You see around here, if this man had 2000 dollars, he would have bought a car!

What do you think?

So true. But if I had $2000, I'd buy a brompton/curve SL to replace my crappy but trustworthy Kent and a good road bike so I can join UCLA's road racing team. I guess people like us two are in the minority here.

Dunno about the folder left unlocked...some other reasons could be 1) he wanted an excuse to buy a new and better bike with insurance money if it was stolen or 2) he was keeping an eye on it all the time while in the store. I'm inclined to think that he got it cheap from somewhere though.

So true. But if I had $2000, I'd buy a brompton/curve SL to replace my crappy but trustworthy Kent and a good road bike so I can join UCLA's road racing team. I guess people like us two are in the minority here.

Dunno about the folder left unlocked...some other reasons could be 1) he wanted an excuse to buy a new and better bike with insurance money if it was stolen or 2) he was keeping an eye on it all the time while in the store. I'm inclined to think that he got it cheap from somewhere though.

The primary reason that adults ride bikes where I live is because they lost their license due to too many DUI convictions or they don't have enough money to buy a motorized vehicle, not even a moped. It's sad but it's true. Anyway, my guess is this individual just needed to make his daily liquor run, and this was his only means of transportation. Well, at least he recognized a nice ride when he acquired it!